Quit? Sally Bercow named a teenager who allegedly ran away with a teacher and her Twitter account has now gone

Sally Bercow has blundered on Twitter again by naming a runaway schoolgirl whose identity was protected by a court order.

The Speaker’s wife could face a £5,000 fine for contempt of court after breaching the order which bans the naming of the girl who allegedly ran away with her teacher to France this year.

Mrs Bercow’s gaffe comes just a fortnight after she used Twitter to name former Tory treasurer Lord McAlpine following a BBC2 Newsnight report which alleged a senior Conservative figure from the Thatcher era was a child abuser.

He was not named on the programme but was identified quickly online. It later emerged that he was the victim of mistaken identity.

Lord McAlpine, who settled with the BBC for £185,000, is now suing Mrs Bercow, although she insists that what she said on Twitter was ‘mischievous’ rather than ‘libellous’.

Her latest blunder happened on Sunday, when she named the teenage girl on Twitter.

This tweet has since been deleted. She then wrote another message to her 59,000 followers, saying she had been discussing the matter with a friend.

She had been referring to the case of Jeremy Forrest, a 30-year-old teacher in Eastbourne, East Sussex, who was arrested in Bordeaux in September and returned to Britain.

He was charged with abducting a child and remanded in custody at a court hearing last week.

The court made a Section 39 Order under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, banning the naming of the teenager.

The order states: ‘Any publication by whatever media in breach of this order is punishable by a fine in the sum of £5,000.’

Reference: The Labour activist was referring to the case of Jeremy Forrest, a teacher in Eastbourne, who was arrested in Bordeaux in September. He is pictured in October getting on a plane to return to Britain

Legal action: Mrs Bercow used Twitter to name former Tory treasurer Lord McAlpine, following a Newsnight report which alleged a senior Tory figure was a child abuser, but she denies this was defamatory

Legal experts say using a social networking site such as Twitter to comment does constitute publication, meaning Mrs Bercow, a Labour activist, could face a fine.

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Sarah Webb, a media lawyer with the firm Payne Hicks Beach, said: ‘The contempt of court requirements will apply to her just the same as any newspaper or broadcaster. I would advise her to be very cautious.

‘I would certainly urge her to turn off her Twitter account at the moment.

Angry: Sally Bercow was sent a letter from solicitors acting for Lord McAlpine (pictured in April 1998)

‘She may not know the law, but equally most people who have an understanding of these things know that in respect of actions involving children and things like that, you can’t go around naming them. I think it is surprising that none of these things seem to cross her radar.

'The contempt of court requirements will apply to her just the same as any newspaper or broadcaster. I would advise her to be very cautious. I would certainly urge her to turn off her Twitter account at the moment'

Sarah Webb, media lawyer

Mrs Bercow’s agent was contacted last night but did not reply.

Last Thursday, Mrs Bercow received a
letter from solicitors acting for Lord McAlpine, who are examining 1,000
tweets that they believe defame the 70-year-old peer.

It said legal action will be taken
against for her remarks on Twitter which allegedly linked him with child
abuse. She had tweeted: ‘Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent
face*’.

Over the weekend, Mrs Bercow used
Twitter to argue that she was being unfairly targeted by Lord McAlpine
because she was high profile and a Labour supporter.

‘This is totally politically motivated, I tell you,’ she wrote.

‘And I don’t do conspiracy theories as a rule.’

In another tweet, she declared: ‘I don’t have money to contest a multi-millionaire. Lord McA falsely accused but not by me.’

Couple: Mrs Bercow is married to Commons speaker John, who live together in their grace and favour flat at Westminster